Obama expected to do a turbocharged transition if he wins

Published: Friday, October 31, 2008, 15:52 [IST]

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Washington, Oct 31 : Barack Obama is expected to do a turbocharged transition if he wins, with a Treasury secretary and White House chief of staff named days after his election, Democratic Party sources have said.

"They would like to make Treasury the first appointment as a symbol and have the other big ones done in the first week," the Daily News quoted a source close to the Obama transition team, as saying.

Confronting the economic crisis is the prime reason for the urgency. "People will have a good idea where we're going with this very early," added an Obama adviser.

The list of candidates for Treasury secretary includes former Clinton Administration Treasury chief Larry Summers; Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and ex-Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, among others, said sources familiar with candidates who have been recommended to Obama.

Obama is also well along in deciding on his picks for State, Defense and Justice, sources said.

As another indicator of the importance Obama attaches to getting his economic brain trust in place, his transition team already has scores of prospective appointees undergoing FBI background checks for top administration slots.

While the candidates have hammered each other for months, transition planning for either an Obama or John McCain win has been quietly underway at all levels of the federal government.

The chief of staff's job may come down to former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota or Rahm Emanuel. But multiple sources believe Emanuel is more interested in staying on the fast-track in the House leadership.

William Timmons, a Washington lobbyist who worked in the Ford and Reagan Administrations, is heading McCain's transition team. Several sources said that effort is not as ambitious or as far along as Obama's.

Of the nearly 8,000 administration jobs filled by presidential appointees, 1,177 of them require Senate confirmation.